Changing Lives
by TaiTerToT19
Summary: Sora and Riku make a new friend. A girl named Kairi who seems nice, but she seems to be hidding something. What does Sora think of her? Sora&Kairi Rated T for a reason.
1. The New Girl

**Chapter 1- The New Girl**

"Sora, c'mon, time to get up!" yelled my mom from downstairs.

"I thought it was the weekend!" I yelled back, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

"No Sora, it's Friday, you can't miss school."

"Why not?" I laid back down on the pillows.

"Don't you want to go to the dance this evening?"

"I'm not going with anyone, why should I go?"

"Because I have to work late tonight and you're not staying home alone, besides, Riku's going."

"So…" I replied.

"OK Hero, go get Sora out of bed." I heard my mom say.

Then I heard something running up the stairs. Then it jumped onto my bed and started licking my face. It was my dog, Hero. Hero is a Siberian husky with red fur on his back, and white fur on his chest, belly, and legs. Hero is also Party-eyed. His left eye is full blue, but his right eye had two colors, blue and red. We named him Hero because a couple years ago, I fell into a fast river and couldn't get to shore. But he jumped in after and saved me, pulling me to shore. If it hadn't been for that Siberian stray, I wouldn't have made it out.

"OK OK! Alright Hero! I'm getting up!" I said pushing him off.

I got up and got changed into a nice but casual outfit. I had some baggy jeans and long, black Polo with blue stripes inside white stripes, and some tan boots. I was also wearing my crown necklace.

"OK Hero, time for breakfast!" I said petting him.

He barked happily in reply, wagging his tail.

We headed down stairs into the kitchen. My mom was making coffee and looking through the paper for anything interesting. I pulled out some dog food and poured it in Hero's food bowl. Then I filled his water bowl and set it next to him. After feeding Hero, I made some toast for myself.

"OK I have to leave for work now." Said my mom, folding up the news paper, "Be good, make new friends, and have fun at the dance."

"I will Mom."

She smiled at me grabbing her coffee and heading for the door.

"Bye sweetie."

"Bye Mom."

The door closed and it was silent. I finished my toast and got my stuff together for school. I was sitting on the couch with Hero when the door bell rang. I went and answered it.

"Hey, Riku."

"Hey Sora, you ready for school?"

"Yeah, just let me grab my bag."

I went over to the stairs and picked up my bag, then Hero walked over to Riku, wagging his tail.

"Hey Hero, have you been a good boy lately?" asked Riku, patting his head.

Hero barked in reply.

"OK, let's go." I said.

I locked the door behind us. Then we headed toward the bus stop.

"So Riku, you're going to the dance right, are you bringing anyone?"

"Yeah, Katlin, from our 3rd period class."

"She's one of the hottest girls in school, how'd you get her to go with you?"

"Well it turns out that she likes Me." said Riku.

I turned to see him smiling.

"You like her back, don't you?" I was smiling too.

"So what about you, are you taking anyone?" Riku asked at me, still smiling.

I looked up at the gray sky, just noticing that it was raining slightly.

"No I just haven't been interested in anyone."

"There must be a ton of girls that want to go out with you. You don't like anyone."

"Not really."

"Well if I know you, you'll find someone."

"You know it!" We gave each other hi-fives.

"Hey, who's that?" I pointed to a girl at the bus stop.

"I don't know. Maybe she's with the people moving the house down the street from yours."

When we got closer we saw that she had reddish-brown hair running down to her mid-back and blue eyes. She was wearing a white tank top, a pink skirt, pink n' white shoes, and a black jacket with pink stripes running down the arms. She had the sleeves of the jacket pushed up to her elbows.

"Sora! Riku!" someone called from behind us.

We turned and saw my cousin, Roxas running towards us. We knew it was him because of his blonde spiky hair.

"Hey Roxas." I gave him a hi-five.

"So you guys psyched about the dance?" Roxas looked at both of us for a response. I answered first.

"Not really." I said, "Who are you bringing?"

"Who do you think?" said Roxas, "Namine, duh."

"Well, where is she?" asked Riku.

"She's getting a ride to school." He pointed back over his shoulder.

We both nodded.

After Roxas showed up, everyone else did too, including Alan, the school bully. He usually caused trouble around us though.

"Hey look everybody! Three members of the lame gang!" Alan pointed at us.

"No one's laughing stupid." I looked at him and his two friends, Jake and David. I loathed them all.

"Yeah, guess it was too smart for them." He said acting disappointed.

"Please, it was probably too smart for you." Said Roxas.

Everyone started to laugh, including the new girl. Alan walked over to Roxas and said.

"You'd better watch that girlfriend of yours."

The bus drove round the corner a few minutes later. Alan and his gang got on first and headed for the back seats. Riku and I sat down in our seats. Riku and I sat in seat 17, while Roxas sat behind us in seat 19. Everyone else sat down except the new girl.

"Why hello dear, I'm the bus driver, Ms. Maggie."

"I'm Kairi." Said the new girl.

"Well Kairi, let's see where we can put you."

Ms. Maggie grabbed the seating chart and studied it for a moment.

"There's an opening in seat 18 with Namine, who isn't here today so would Sora and Riku raise their hands."

Riku and I raised our hands and waved.

"You'll sit right across from them." Ms. Maggie pointed at the seat next to us.

"Thanks." said Kairi.

She walked over to the seat and sat down.

"Hi, I'm Sora, and this is Riku." I pointed to him.

"Hey there." Riku waved at her.

"Hi, I'm Kairi." She smiled at us, "Who was that guy back there?" Kairi pointed to the back of the bus at Alan.

"Oh, that's Alan; he's a jerk and just happens to be the school bully."

"I noticed the jerk part." She made a disgusted look.

Kairi turned back around in her seat to her backpack and pulled out a piece of paper.

"What's that?" I pointed at the paper.

"My schedule." She was scanning it thoroughly.

"Can I see?" I held out my hand for the piece of paper.

"Sure." She handed me the schedule. I looked at it with interest. I saw that 4 of her classes were the same as mine.

"Cool, we have four classes together." I said looking up at her.

"Neat." She said in a perky voice.

I handed her back the schedule.

"I can help you with what we're doing in each of the four classes."

"OK, what are we doing?"

"Well, in 1st period we hav-"

"Sora, your phone's going off." Riku pointed at my pocket.

I had just noticed it vibrating. I pulled it out and saw that I had a text message…from Alan. It read:

'U R gonna get it 2nite'

I looked back at him and he was holding up his middle finger. I hated everything about him, his messy jet black hair, his poisonous green eyes, and his stupid smirk. I hated him.

"What is it?" Riku looked back at Alan too.

"He says he's gonna pick a fight with me tonight."

"He's really gonna do that?" Kairi looked bewildered.

I flipped him off back.

"Well, he says he will, but he usually doesn't follow up on his threats though." I reassured her by smiling.

A few minutes later we arrived at school. Riku and I invited Kairi over to meet our friends after we got off the bus. We walked over to our usual spot in the Destiny Island High courtyard.

"You guys made it. We were starting to think you were gonna skip school." Leon said noticing us.

"The bus was running late, Leon." I smirked.

"Who's she?" Cloud jerked his head at Kairi.

"Oh, right! Everyone, this is Kairi," I put my hand on her shoulder, "Kairi, this is everyone. That's Leon, Cloud, Arieth, Cid, Yuffie, Namine, and Roxas." I pointed to each in turn.

We started talking when Katlin walked up to Riku.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" she asked Riku.

"Sure." He walked away with her to the other side of the courtyard.

We talked among each other for a couple of minutes. Riku rejoined us looking unusually happy. The bell rang and we all headed for our 1st period classes. (WOW! 11 people!) Kairi got up and headed for the door. I stared at the back of her head. Her reddish-brown hair, swayed as a breeze flew by.

"C'mon Romeo." Riku waved his hand in front of my face.

"Wha!" I said, startled by Riku.

"C'mon, we gotta get to class." said Riku.

"Oh…right."

I followed him into the building. An Image of Kairi stuck in my mind.


	2. May I Have This Dance

**Chapter 2-May I Have This Dance**

The school day went by quickly. We had a test 2nd hour, and someone in Workshop got injured and had to go to the Hospital, but that's pretty much what happened during school. 6th period came and went with no excitement. But it was time for the dance and the whole school was buzzing with enthusiasm. Everyone lined up outside the cafeteria.

"So, Riku, what did you and Katlin talk about this morning?" I asked as we waited to get in.

"She wanted to know if we were still on for the dance," he said, "which reminds me, where is she?"

"Riku, there you are," Katlin walked up to us, "come to the front of the line with us. Sora, you come too. Roxas is already up there."

"OK." said Riku. I nodded to her.

We followed her up top the front of the line where Roxas, Danielle, Namine, Stephanie, and Kairi were talking. Alan, Jake, and David were standing a few people behind us. I glanced back at them. Alan was sneering at us.

"So, did you guy's see the ambulances out front." Stephanie asked the group.

"Yeah, we did." Said Riku.

"We know who it was too." I said looking at everyone.

"Who was it?" Danielle asked looking interested, everyone did.

"It was Tate, something happened to him in Workshop during 4th hour."

"Oh God." Stephanie gasped turning white in a flash.

"What is it?" Riku asked looking a little worried.

"That's Steph's Boyfriend, I hope he's OK." Katlin hugged Stephanie, we all did. She started to cry silently. Then she whispered.

"Please let him be OK, oh please let him be alright." You could tell she was really sad.

We walked into the cafeteria and sat down at one of the tables with Stephanie. We knew she was worried.

"Riku and I are gonna dance OK Steph." said Katlin.

"Sure, go ahead." She didn't even look up.

"Namine and I are gonna dance too." Roxas said quietly.

Kairi, Danielle, and I sat there, comforting Stephanie. A couple songs were played and Katlin, Riku, Roxas, and Namine were still out on the floor dancing.

"I'm going to go get a snack, you guys gonna be OK?" I said standing up.

"Yeah, we'll be fine." said Danielle.

I walked over to the concession stands and bought a Twix and a Root Beer. I was paying when I heard yelling. I grabbed my stuff and ran back to the table we were sitting at. I had to push my way through the crowd of people.

"Let her go Alan, don't put your hands on me, Let Me Through!" Kairi and Danielle were trying to get past David, but he was managing to hold them back.

I glanced around for Stephanie, but I couldn't find her. Then I saw Alan standing against the wall. I saw him bend his head down and saw Stephanie backed up against the wall with Alan holding her up to the wall so she couldn't move. She was avoiding him any way she could.

"Get away from her Alan." I started to run to them, but Jake stepped in front of me. I tried to get past, but couldn't.

She was crying so hard, begging him to let her go.

"One kiss first." said Alan. He was smiling, having fun torturing her.

He started to move in. His face was an inch away from hers. I looked away. Without warning, someone blew past me! He grabbed Alan by the collar, spun him around and socked him in the face, once, twice, three times. It was Tate. He was at the dance and he was protecting Stephanie. Everyone was startled by his entrance, including Jake. I punched him in the nose and ran over to Tate and Alan. I knew Tate didn't need any help what so ever. It was Alan who needed help. He was on the floor moaning in pain. Tate was holding Stephanie.

"If you ever touch her again, I'll saw off all your fingers, one at a time, and nail them to you." said Tate, pointing his finger at Alan.

"OK, OK, just don't hit me again." Alan's buddies hurried over and helped him up. They made their way to the other side of the cafeteria, bumping as many people as they could.

The rest of the night was fun from then on. Tate got a bunch of attention. Everybody was surprised that he showed up. Stephanie was happy he was OK. Tate was in a pretty good mood after that beating of Alan.

"Well I had to pay him back for the gash he gave me."

"Wait, what do you mean you had to 'pay' him back." Wakka asked. We all quieted down and listened.

"Don't you know? He's the one who pushed me into the saw."

So he told us about how Alan pushed him into the saw, making him have to go to the Emergency Room for patching up. We all came to the conclusion that Alan did that to get Tate out of the picture.

"Man what a low thing to do." said Cloud.

"Well, when has Alan ever been noble?" I added.

Tate chuckled, "Good point. So Steph, do you want to dance?"

"Oh I'd love to." They walked on to the floor.

Then Riku and Katlin followed. Then Tidus, Selphie, Roxas, and Namine all went on the floor. I suddenly felt the urge to ask Kairi to dance. I scooted closer to her.

"So…uh…do you, I mean… would you like to…?" I sighed.

She smiled at me, "Would I like to dance with you?"

"Y-Yeah!"

"I would love to dance with you." I sighed with relief.

We walked over to the dance floor. She put her hands on my shoulders; I put mine on her waist. We started to dance. That night turned out to be a great one.

**Next Day**

"Man that was an awesome dance." Blurted Riku.

"Yeah, it was." I said.

We were at Riku's house, in the Den. We were playing on his pool table. He was beating me by two.

"Alright boy's, time to get ready for today's game." Riku's mom yelled from upstairs.

"Finally, today we go against the Mountain Lions. We're gonna cream them." Riku said confidently.

"Don't forget they have one of the best Forwards in the league." I added.

"Yeah, but our Goal Keeper is the best."

Today the Destiny Island High Tigers, go up against the Crystal City High Mountain Lions. Their team was good, but we had a good chance at beating them. We got on our stuff and waited for Riku's mom to get ready.

"OK boys, ready to play some Soccer!" Shouted Riku's mom.

"Yes we are!" I shouted back.

"Then let's go." said Riku.

We got into the car and drove to the Destiny Island High for the big game. I looked out the window as the school approached. I was anxious to get the game started.


	3. Kick The Ball

**Chapter 3-Kick the Ball**

It's weird how nervousness hits you. You're really excited about something, but when it finally there you get nervous. The school loomed over us as we got out. It was Fall weather, kinda chilly all the leaves red, gold, and brown, yet I felt warm. It may have been my jacket, but it felt hotter than that. I felt kind of dizzy but I must have felt nervous. Riku and I headed inside the locker rooms while Riku's mom went to the stands.

"Nervous?" I asked.

"A little," replied Riku.

"Me too," I said.

"Well whether or not we win or lose, we'll have done our best this season," said Steve.

Steve was our Goal Keeper. He's the best we've had in a long time. Steve was a good friend of ours, even though he was a year ahead of me and Riku. He helped us out when we needed it and we helped him. We watched each others backs cause we both weren't friends with Alan. The whole team was in the locker room. There was Roxas, Brandon, and Cloud as the Forwards. AJ and I were the Mid Fielders. Riku, Tate, and Chad were Defenders. And Steve, our Goal Keeper.

"So Brandon," I asked, "You think you can make that shot?"

"I think so," he said, "I've made it before so I'm pretty sure I can."

"Good, cause we need a couple far shots to throw them off." I said.

Well, it's kind of difficult for me to curve it so the Goal Keeper can't get it." added Brandon.

"Trust me," said Steve, "If you can score those shots on me, you can score on them easy."

Brandon smirked. We all sat around talking for a few minutes until coach came in.

"Alright guys, were ready to play." said coach.

"Ok lets go." said Steve.

We left the lockers and headed out to the field. The stands were full. The crowd was screaming. There was a faint smell of popcorn in the crisp air. I glanced around the stands for my mom and instead I saw Katlin, Namine, and Kairi cheering in the crowd. My stomach seemed to do a summersault. I tore my glance from them to the Mountain Lions. There uniforms were purple and yellow. Ours were blue and white. We walked over to the benches and went over some of the plays we created. The Referees came over and inspected us. Once they finished with us, they went over to the other team and inspected them. Then we sent the captains to the center of the field. We won the coin toss and we decided to kick first. Now it was time to play.

Cloud kicked the ball to Brandon while Roxas ran down the field. Brandon juked a couple of players then passed to Chad. Chad ran down the field with the ball until he was almost at the corner of the field, when he passed it to Roxas. Roxas almost got it, but their defender intercepted the pass. He passed it up to one of their forwards and he started to run to the center of the field. My heart began to beat faster. I was starting to feel the rush I got from soccer. He barely passed the center before I charged at him. I was about as fast as he was, so he didn't really expect me to meet him so fast. He tried to juke me, but I stuck my foot out and stopped the ball. I ran past the mid line a little then passed to Brandon. He passed to Roxas who passed it back to Brandon. He was lining up his shot.

"Shoot the ball!"

Yelled coach from the side lines. A defender was going for him. He kicked the ball and…

"GOAL!!!" yelled the commentator.

Out of no where the Defender kept running. He ran right into Brandon, knocking him off his feet. My eyes widened as I saw the collision. I ran up field to help Brandon.

"Yellow Card!" yelled the Ref.

I was helping up Brandon while listening to the argument.

"It's not like I meant to run into him." said the Player.

"Well if I see it again you'll be out of the game. Got it." said the Ref.

The player was walking past us when he said,

"Next time you do that, you won't get up."

I glared at him and so did Brandon. We waited for him to be out of earshot before we said anything. I turned to him.

"Don't listen to him," I said, "you just keep on shooting like that."

"Thanks Sora." He said.

"No problem." I said.

We went back to our half of the field and waited for them to kick off. The ball was passed to one of their players. He was running up the left side of the field. AJ was running toward the player. Their forward passed the ball to another guy and I went after him. He was going to the right on the outside of the field. I was gaining ground on him, but he didn't seem to notice me. Then he just stopped without warning and stuck his foot out a little. I tripped over it and crashed into the ground. He kept running until the referee blew his whistle. It was a penalty kick for us, so I got up and centered the ball. I kicked it over three guys' heads and it rolled a little to Cloud. He was open for a shot.

"SHOOT IT CLOUD!" I yelled.

He shot the ball, but it the goal keeper deflected it over the goal.

"Damn," I muttered.

'Well at least it's a corner kick' I thought.

Brandon took the corner kick. He kicked high enough to just slip past the goal keeper's hands. We were now up by 2. We were walking back to our half of the field again. As I was walking back, I heard Roxas, and Steve, and everyone else calling my name. Then I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head. I fell to the ground hard. Then I felt a foot connect with stomach, and then I felt the foot kick me across the face. I squinted at the stands. I saw Kairi, and I Blacked Out…


	4. Awaking

**Chapter 4-Awaking**

_**10:30 pm**_

I opened my eyes a little. Whatever I was lying on, it felt warm and soft. I wasn't wearing my soccer uniform. My head and sides were throbbing. I tilted my head to the left. I saw white walls and people sitting next to me.

"Look, he's awake," said Riku.

"Oh my poor baby," I heard my mom say, "Oh thank goodness you're alive."

"Mom," I said with a whisper that wouldn't have been heard if the room wasn't silent.

"Mom, what happened," I asked.

"Oh Sora, well I guess…that…" She burst out crying.

"Mom, I'm ok,"

"Some guy on the other team clearly has issues, and he's really serious about soccer and when we scored again, he just lost it and attacked you. It took me, Cloud, and two referees to get him off of you," said Riku.

"What happened to him?" I asked.

"Well, he's in Juvi for now, but he's being convicted for 1st degree assault," said Riku, "He would have killed you."

The door opened and someone walked in. He looked like a doctor.

"Ah Sora, I'm glad you're awake," said the doctor.

It was my doctor, Dr. Freeman. He has been my doctor for about two years.

"You have two broken ribs and a lot of bruises; luckily you don't have a concussion. That boy kicked you in the head pretty hard," he said.

"How hard?" I asked rubbing my aching head.

"Hard enough to knock you out," said Riku.

"Right…" I was drowsy, and I felt sore.

"I'm tired…" I said.

"You go on ahead and rest, Sora, you need it," said Dr. Freeman.

I closed my eyes and drifted on into sleep…

**_3:41 am_**

_Dream_

"The Jury finds you…Guilty."

_End Dream_

I awoke with a start. I sat up quickly. Everyone must have left and gone home to get some sleep. I laid back down and fell asleep.

_**5:53 am**_

"Is he alright?"

"He was when I was here last night."

"Yeah, it was pretty bad."

"That was horrible. How he attacked Sora like that? I can't believe someone would do that."

That last voice felt good…It sounded like Kairi's…was she here; next to me…I opened my eyes, and what a surprise I got. The whole soccer team and all of my friends were there.

"Oh Sora, I'm glad you're alright." Kairi jumped on me and hugged me tightly. I was so startled I didn't know what to say or do. I decided to hug her back.

"I'm alright Kairi."

I squeezed her gently. We finally let go to look at each other. Then realization dawned on us that everyone else was in the room too.

"Well, we'll leave you two lovebirds alone, come on everyone," said Riku.

Everyone left the room whispering and muttering to each other. Before we knew it we were alone.

Kairi got off of me, and sat down in a chair.

"So what happened?" I sat up to listen.

"Well, some guy on the other team attacked you-"

"No I mean what happened after he was pulled off me."

"Oh. You were taken to the hospital. You were pretty beat up."

"Yeah, the Doctor said I had two broken ribs."

"Oh my gosh! I didn't know that! Are you O-"

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

Kairi told me everything that happened after the attack. I listened through out it all, and couldn't help noticing something. A bruise on here left arm. It looked like someone had grabbed her and twisted her around. I tried to ignore it, and decided to not ask about it. After she was done, everyone came back into the room.

"Riku."

"Yeah?"

"Didn't you say he was being sued or something?" I asked trying to remember what he had said.

"Yeah, he's being convicted for attacking you. The trial isn't for a couple of weeks, but you may be given as a witness. Me, Brandon, and Cloud know we will be."

"OK." I said not listening. I was thinking.

Time passed and people had to go home. We were left with me Riku and Kairi, and I had just thought of something.

"When will I be able to leave?"

"The doctor said you could leave as soon as you woke up," said Riku.

"Well than can we go? I want to get to my own bed."

"Sure, my mom can give us all a ride home," Riku pulled out his cell and called his mom. She was here in ten minutes. We drove Kairi home first.

"Sora?"

"Huh? What is it Kairi?"

"Here's my number," she handed me a piece of paper, "Call me if you need anything, Ok?"

"Yeah, Ok."

She got out of the car smiling. A moment later I realized, I got Kairi's number.

"Dude, I think she likes you."

"Yeah, I think she does."

I said good bye to Riku, and thanked his mom for giving me a ride home. I walked up the front steps and opened the door.

"Mom, I'm home."

"Sora!"

She ran to me open armed. She hugged and kissed me, like all mothers do.

"A few more minutes, and I was going to come and get you. Who gave you a ride?"

"Riku's mom did."

"Did you tell her thank you?"

"Of course I did."

"Well I'll make some Cinnamon Rolls, for breakfast, Ok?"

"Sounds great."

She left for the kitchen, but I needed to ask her something.

"Hey mom, do you know if I have to go to court, and be a witness for the trial?"

"Well, I imagine so. You were the one attacked, so probably."

"Oh…ok."

"Is everything okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, everything's fine."

I went up stairs to change into some of my own clothes. I took of my shirt and looked in the mirror to inspect the damage done. It did look bad. Even with the bandages, you could still see the bruising. There were a lot of bruises on me, apart from the black eye and busted lip I had. I felt sore and tired. I stood up my pillows and laid back and watched TV.

(A/N): I think that'll clear up what had happened at the game. Don't forget to send in a review. The next chapter will be up in a couple of weeks.


	5. A Sad Happy Day

**Chapter 5-A Sad Happy Day**

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I had a lot of stuff going on and didn't have a lot of time to finish this chapter. But thankfully it's done now.**

I woke up at 8:30. The smell of Cinnamon Rolls awoke me. That and the phone was ringing. I got up to answer it. I saw Tate on the caller ID. I picked it up and answered.

"Hello?" I rubbed my eyes, from being woken from my nap.

"Hey Sora." He sounded depressed.

"Hey Tate. What's up?"

"Oh, I'm calling everyone to invite them to a going away party."

"Are you moving? You sound sad." I became more awake.

"No, I'm staying here. Stephanie is though."

"Oh…I'm sorry man. I'll come."

"Thanks."

He told me when the party would be. I hung up and went down stairs.

"Who was it?" my mom asked pulling the cinnamon rolls out of the oven.

"It was Tate. He's calling everyone to invite them to Stephanie's Going Away Party. She's moving."

"Oh. That's too bad. When is it?"

"Tomorrow morning, at Steph's House. He said to be over around 10:00. We're going to spend the whole day together."

"I'll Drop you off in the morning." She said without question.

I lounged around the house most of the day, mainly because there wasn't much to do. I decided to go for a walk with Hero. I pulled out his leash from the closet, along with my jacket.

"Mom, where's my ipod?"

"It's in here on the kitchen island."

I grabbed it and took Hero outside. We went left to the park. As we were walking I saw Kairi leaving her house holding a leash attached to a very pretty black lab. It looked like she was going to the park too.

"Hey Kairi."

"Oh hey Sora, who's this guy?" She said bending over to pet Hero.

"This is Hero. And who's your friend?" I asked bending down to pet her dog.

"This is Angel," Said Kairi.

I was reaching down to pet her, but she drew away a little.

"It's Ok, I'm not going to hurt you," I said to her.

I rubbed her head as she sniffed my hand.

"So where are you going?" asked Kairi.

"To the dog park. You're going there too right?"

"Yeah, me and Angel need to get out of the house," she said.

We walked down the road a ways, both of us not knowing how to start a conversation. Then Stephanie's going away party popped into my head.

"Did you hear about Stephanie's going away party?" I asked.

"Yeah I did hear about that. I'm not sure I'll be able to go either."

"Wait, what? What do you mean you probably won't be able to come?"

"Well my dad says tha-"

"What? That you can't see your friend the last time she'll be here," I said with a bit more force than I meant to.

"I do want to see here, but,"

"But What?"

She sighed then said, "I'll try to be there."

"You will?"

"Yes."

After that we stayed silent most of the time. I felt kind of bad for being so harsh.

"Kairi?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about being so rude back there. I just wanted you to be there."

"It's Ok. I just thought that she'd only want to be with her friends," said Kairi.

I stopped walking, a little stunned.

"She'd only want to be with…What are you talking about? You're our friend too ya know."

She stopped walking too. We were at least 12 feet apart.

"Well my dad told me-"

"What's with your dad? Doesn't he know that you have friends?"

"Yes but," said Kairi, staring at the ground.

"Kairi, is something wrong?" I asked a little puzzled.

She stood there starring at the ground. Her eyes were blank. I walked over to her with Hero by my side. Hero walked up to her and licked her hand. She snapped out of her trance.

"Huh? Uh…no everything's fine." She said.

We continued to walk together, and had some lengthy conversations on topics such as: dogs, school, and travel. She was surprised to find out that I had lived in England for almost three years (A/N: I myself had lived there for about 2½ years before we moved back to the U.S.). We finally arrived at the dog park and we let our dogs off their leashes. We sat down on one of the benches as we watched Hero and Angel play together. I pulled out my ipod and put one ear-phone in my ear and offered the other to Kairi. She took it and we listened to some of my music. I was surprised to see that she liked it. She rested her head on my shoulder. I could feel my face turn red. We sat there for about an hour, watching the dogs play.

We were about to leave and I didn't want Kairi to leave my shoulder. But she stood up and so did I. I called over Hero and put his leash on. We were walking back to Kairi's house talking to each other when we just stopped and looked at each other. Her eyes were so beautiful and the sun shined off her hair just right. Without realizing it we had grabbed each others hands and started to walk again. After 5 minutes of so we arrived at Kairi's door and were saying our good-byes. She was about to go inside when I stopped her.

"Kairi?"

"Yeah?" she said turning around to face me.

"Thanks for letting me walk with you." I said nervously.

"She came closer, and kissed me on the cheek. Then she quickly went inside and closed the door. I stood there and put my hand up to where she had kissed me.

She opened up the door a crack and said, "You're welcome." Then she closed it again.

I walked back home smiling the whole way. Hero was looking up at me like there was something wrong with me. I got home and went into the kitchen and grabbed a cinnamon roll. They were still warm. I didn't feel bad at all for the rest of the day. I knew tomorrow wouldn't be the same though. The fact that Steph was gonna leave in a few days was very hard to comprehend. I wondered how Tate was going to act tomorrow. I decided to push it out of my mind for the time being.

I finished of my cinnamon roll and watched a bunch of movies. The first movie I watched was "The Count of Monte Cristo". I didn't leave the house for the rest of the day.

**A/N: Walla! It is done, and I'm sure you're wondering when Sora's going to ask Kairi out. And speaking of Kairi, no one mentioned anything about the bruise on her arm in chapter 4. There's something you might want to think about. Thanks for reading and don't forget to send in those reviews.**


	6. All but One

**Chapter 6-All but One**

The Sun was just barely coming up. It was 7:25 and I was getting ready to go to Stephanie's house. I wore some kaki pants and a white shirt with a black button-up shirt over that. I was sitting down stairs on the couch with my ipod on. I was listening to "So Sick" by Ne-Yo, in honor of Stephanie. I still couldn't believe she was leaving. She had lived here with us for at least 6 years. I wondered how Tate was going to act today. I sat there listening to my music for almost an hour when my mom came down.

"Mom, I think I'm gonna go over to Tate's house before we have the going away party, and I'll drive myself."

"Okay honey, but let me know when you get back to the house because I'll be out today." My mom said, putting her shoes on.

"Alright," I said walking over to her to give her a hug, "I'll be back before 11:00."

"Love ya sweetie, and tell everyone I said hi," she said taking a coat out of the closet and putting it on.

"I will," I left the house and got in my SUV. I drove about six blocks and turned left onto Tate's street. I pulled into the drive way and got out. I went up to the door and knocked. A couple seconds later Tate answered the door.

"Oh, hey Sora."

"Hey, Tate. Is it okay if I come in?"

"Yeah, sure."

He stepped aside to let me in. We walked down stairs to the wreck room in the basement. Tate went over to the fridge and opened it.

"What do you want? We got Coke, Diet Pepsi, Root Beer, and Cream Soda."

"Cream Soda sounds good."

He pulled two out and handed one to me. We walked over to the TV area and sat down. I opened my drink and took a sip. The cool liquid felt good against my throat. I set my soda down on the coffee table. I looked over at Tate. He was sipping his soda looking like there was nothing wrong.

"You Ok?" I asked putting my hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess." He said unsure.

"Don't worry there'll be other girls out there." I said trying to comfort him.

"Yeah, but none of them will be like Stephanie."

We stayed silent for a long time. Tate's dog came down stairs.

"Who's this?" I asked petting the dog.

"That's Willie. Hey boy."

Willie sat in front of Tate. There as a look on his face that was asking 'what's wrong'.

"I saw you and Kairi in the park yesterday," said Tate not looking at me.

"Really, I didn't see you there."

"I was sitting under a tree with Willie. We needed some fresh air."

"Yeah I think a lot of people needed it," I said matter-of-factly.

He smirked, chuckling a little.

"Yeah, so what happened in the hospital? I mean, what did you two talk about?" he asked.

"Oh she just told me about what had happened after they pulled that guy off of me. There was something else though," I said pausing for a moment.

"What?"

"There was a bruise on her left arm. It looked like someone had grabbed her and wrenched her around or something." I said thinking back to try and picture it.

"Well I never noticed that, but I remember that I was on a walk with Willie and I heard yelling inside her house as we went by."

We stopped talking for a few minutes pondering these things, when Tate stood up.

"Alright it's time to head over to Stephanie's house," he said walking over to throw away the empty Cream Soda can.

"Ok, it's just across the street right?" I asked throwing away my can too.

"Yeah, we'll just walk over."

We left Tate's house and walked across the street to Steph's place. We rang the door bell and someone answered. It was Stephanie's dad, Mr. Casing. He was a balding man, but he was tall and buff too.

"Oh hey boys. You're here kind of early."

"Well I live across the street and Sora came over to hang out before the party," said Tate walking in as Mr. Casing stepped aside, "I hope it's ok that we're a little early."

"Oh yeah, that's fine. Stephanie is in her room upstairs. You can go and see her if you like." He said walking over and sitting on the couch to watch TV.

"Thanks Mr. C."

"No problem."

I followed Tate upstairs onto the balcony. We approached a closed door that I assumed led to Stephanie's room.

"You go in. I'll stay out here and give you guys some time to yourselves." I said leaning against the wall.

"Thanks Sora."

He knocked lightly, then opened the door.

"Stephanie?" He walked in and closed the door behind him.

I walked back over to the balcony and leaned against the rail. It was fairly quiet except for the sound of the TV coming from down stairs. A lady with light brown hair came out of a room and walked over to me.

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Casing, are you here for the party?" she asked.

"Oh, yes. I'm Sora. Nice to meet you. I'm a friend of Tate's and Stephanie's."

"Oh, Sora. I remember you from last year's Halloween Party. You were the Grim Reaper."

"Yep. That was me."

"Yes you were quite frightening. People for the party should be arriving shortly. You can go down stairs and get some of the food if you like." She said walking over to the stairs.

"No thanks, I'll wait for Tate and Stephanie.'

She nodded and went down stairs. A few minutes later Tate and Stephanie came out. Tate had his arm around her shoulder and she was resting her head on his chest. It struck me how much those two cared for each other and I felt…sad. Really, truly sad that those two had to part.

"Hey guys," I said, trying to sound cheerful.

"Hey," said Stephanie.

The door bell rang and Mr. Casing got up to answer the door. It was AJ, one of our friends. He said hi to Mr. and Mrs. Casing, and he asked them where we were. Then Tate yelled out.

"We're up here AJ!"

He looked up, a little startled, then, he smiled seeing us.

"Gosh! You didn't have to yell so loud." He said jokingly.

More people started arriving, and the party soon started. All of Tate's and Stephanie's friends had come, and that was a lot of people. All the guys here were Me, Tate, Alec, Riku, Roxas, Josh, Alex, and Dallas. All the girls were Stephanie, Danielle, Namine, Taylor, and Katelin. Not to mention all of Stephanie's parents' friends. I looked around at everyone, and I soon noticed that someone was missing. Kairi wasn't at the party. The door bell rang a few minutes later. I looked up hopefully as Stephanie answered the door. I couldn't see who it was, but I soon found out as Stephanie was pushed aside. It was Alan and his cronies.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I glared at them as I got up.

Everyone turned to see who it was. Tate got in front of Stephanie.

"Leave. Now," he said popping his knuckles.

"Well I had to see the bitch before she left," Alan smiled.

"What did you call my daughter?" Mr. Casing walked up to Alan, towering over him.

"A bitch. What are you gonna do about it?" He didn't look worried at all.

"Well, you've come into my house, uninvited. The law states that if someone comes into your house, uninvited, you have the right to shoot them," Mr. Casing said.

Alan looked terrified, "You wouldn't dare."

"Honey, would you please get my pistol?" Mr. Casing asked his wife.

Alan still didn't move, only now it seemed involuntary, because it looked as if he would very much like to run. His friends didn't seem to have a problem. They were all ready out the door.

"Hold on Mr. Casing," Tate said walking over to Alan.

Alan looked less scared, but still didn't leave. Tate just stood there. Then he punched Alan. He flew back at least five feet out the door. As Alan got up, we managed to get a glimpse of his face before he ran.

"Man! I swear you broke his nose. I mean, did you see all that blood?" said Josh.

"I still can't believe you did that," I said patting Tate on the back.

"My hero," said Stephanie, smiling. They kissed, a good long time.

I remembered that Kairi had kissed me. I felt my cheek, where her lips had pressed against it. I wondered why she hadn't come. I was getting worried about her. I hoped she was alright.

**A/N: not a great chapter, but it had a "nice" ending to it. I'm sorry to everyone for how long it took to finish this though. I had absolutely no idea how to end this thing. All the reviews I've been getting have really helped me finish. Now for Chapter seven which, I swear, won't take as long. Thanks again to all those reading, and remember to send in your reviews!**


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